screening for post traumatic stress disorder

Last reviewed 01/2018

Screening for post-traumatic stress disorder 1 month after the event is recommended in the following individuals:

• people who have experienced a major disaster
• refugees and asylum seekers (1)

People at high risk of acquiring PTSD can be detected by using several screening instruments (mainly questionnaires containing traumatic stress symptoms)

• in primary care the Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ) and the SPAN test have the greatest potential for routine use (1)
  • TSQ
    • contains ten questions requiring yes/no answers (1)
    • consists of the re-experiencing and arousal symptoms (2)
    • the person is inquired whether they have experienced each symptoms at least twice in the past week (1)
    • a total of six points or more out of ten points suggests a positive result for PTSD (2)
  • SPAN
    • comprises the 'startle', 'physiological upset on reminders', 'anger' and 'numbness' questions
      • scoring is more complicated when compared to TSQ
  • other screening questionnaires include:
    • Impact of Event Scale
    • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist
    • The Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS)
    • The Davidson Trauma Scale (1)

Reference:

• 1. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) 2005. Post - traumatic stress disorder. The management of PTSD in adults and in children in primary and secondary care
• 2. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007. Results of a household survey.